Culinary classes on Riviera

[espmass]

This will be our second Oceania cruise but on the first we did not try the culinary classes.  Can someone give me more information about them?  Are they worthwhile?  Do the participants actually prepare and cook or just watch the chef?  We are most interested in the Favorites of Red Ginger class so can anyone tell me about that one in particular?  Thanks so much for any info.

[LHT28]

You get to prepare  some dishes  cook them & eat them

 Some of the prep work is done for you  like when we made  pasta  the dough was prepared for us  but the Chef did show  how to do it

 

Worthwhile ??

Personal choice

Fun ..usually

[Poly Grad Sweethearts]

how do you sign up for the classes

[LHT28]

3 minutes ago, Poly Grad Sweethearts said:

how do you sign up for the classes

Go to MY ACCOUNT on O website

in the cruise info for your booking look to see if the classes are out yet

 They are only on the O class ships now

Sign up & pay for the class you want

[PhD-iva]

I did 2 (or 3?) culiary classes on Riviera last November. Chef David was great! One of the classes was on paella, and I filmed most of the steps, then later made the dish at home on New Year’s Day. I HIGHLY recommend the classes!

[espmass]

Yum, PhD-iva, that looks delicious! 

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, PhD-iva said:

I did 2 (or 3?) culiary classes on Riviera last November. Chef David was great! One of the classes was on paella, and I filmed most of the steps, then later made the dish at home on New Year’s Day. I HIGHLY recommend the classes!

Hope he taught you how to create the Soccarat.

[PhD-iva]

Just now, Flatbush Flyer said:

Hope he taught you how to create the Soccarat.

We already had this discussion………

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

You get to prepare  some dishes  cook them & eat them

One caveat: since the restart of cruising, at least through the first couple of months of this year, there was no “hands on” cooking allowed. We did one class in January on Riviera and it wasn’t quite the same enjoyment as in the past (though still informative).

We’re signed up for only one class on a Marina cruise this autumn and hoping “hands-on” will be back in the program by then.

[LHT28]

So anyone on a recent cruise comment on whether culinary class is back to hands on or not??

[Cliff-FLL]

2 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

One caveat: since the restart of cruising, at least through the first couple of months of this year, there was no “hands on” cooking allowed. We did one class in January on Riviera and it wasn’t quite the same enjoyment as in the past (though still informative).

We were on Marina back in October/November 2021 and the classes were definitely hands-on.  The only change was that each person had his/her own cooking station (no sharing), resulting in half as many people taking each class.  Can't imagine what would've happened on your cruises that the students weren't permitted to cook.

[DENIE]

My wife and sister-in-law signed up for the Riviera class on Spanish Tapas (June 2022 Rome to Barcelona).  The day of the class they received a notice that the class was cancelled, with no explanation.  They were really disappointed....

Edited August 26, 2022 by DENIE
Updated content

[Flatbush Flyer]

3 hours ago, Cliff-FLL said:

We were on Marina back in October/November 2021 and the classes were definitely hands-on.  The only change was that each person had his/her own cooking station (no sharing), resulting in half as many people taking each class.  Can't imagine what would've happened on your cruises that the students weren't permitted to cook.

Apparently, the holiday period saw a significant jump in onboard cases sufficient to increase the onboard restrictions (I also seem to remember that the SailSafe FAQs in early 2022 were tightened as well.
 

As for the classes on our cruise (and I assume other cruises in, at least,  January/February) we received a note once onboard that the classes would still be held but without the “hands-on” work because of the precautionary Covid restrictions. Further, the note stated that we would receive a full refund even if we chose to attend the “demo” mode class - still held in the culinary center (which we and most others did).

Edited August 26, 2022 by Flatbush Flyer

[PhD-iva]

4 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Apparently, the holiday period saw a significant jump in onboard cases sufficient to increase the onboard restrictions (I also seem to remember that the SailSafe FAQs in early 2022 were tightened as well.
 

As for the classes on our cruise (and I assume other cruises in, at least,  January/February) we received a note once onboard that the classes would still be held but without the “hands-on” work because of the precautionary Covid restrictions. Further, the note stated that we would receive a full refund even if we chose to attend the “demo” mode class - still held in the culinary center (which we and most others did).

Yes. My last culinary class was canceled “by the CDC” on the November transatlantic.

[tvmovielover]

If you are interested in the class of Red Ginger recipes, when I took it a few years ago they offered the watermelon salad and the sea bass that are so popular-just do not go to Red Ginger the same night.  The classes are fun but you do not do very much cooking or prep work.  I liked them as an activity on a sea day.  All the ones I took, we were at individual stations so class size was limited and this was well before covid.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, tvmovielover said:

I All the ones I took, we were at individual stations so class size was limited and this was well before covid.

Interesting

When we took them there were 2 per station  usually couples

[pinotlover]

21 hours ago, LHT28 said:

So anyone on a recent cruise comment on whether culinary class is back to hands on or not??

Hopefully we’ll get a reply to this from someone that has cruised since at least July.

 

What happen on the Mayflower crossing or during the heights of Covid are old history. What’s happening today??

[Robjame]

On 8/26/2022 at 9:26 AM, LHT28 said:

When we took them there were 2 per station  usually couples

Went to book culinary classes for upcoming December/January cruise and they are still advertising it as one person per station. My wife and I would prefer to work together as it has been in the past.

 

Does anyone know if they have gone back to the two persons per station or is it still single stations now?

[LHT28]

4 minutes ago, Robjame said:

Went to book culinary classes for upcoming December/January cruise and they are still advertising it as one person per station. My wife and I would prefer to work together as it has been in the past.

 

Does anyone know if they have gone back to the two persons per station or is it still single stations now?

Maybe still using covid protocols  ..maybe will change by Dec

[Ski Mom 2]

I booked cooking classes for our January 2023 on Marina. When I look at the info for the cooking classes it says single stations.

[Poly Grad Sweethearts]

I was told there are no classes currently on the Rivera. We have an early Oct. cruise booked.

[thehungryhobbit]

Does anyone have a list of typical classes they offer? My husband and I are plant based but love to cook and I'm wondering if there are any we would be able to participate in. Especially since they do have such tasty plant based dishes on board.

[LHT28]

2 minutes ago, thehungryhobbit said:

Does anyone have a list of typical classes they offer? My husband and I are plant based but love to cook and I'm wondering if there are any we would be able to participate in. Especially since they do have such tasty plant based dishes on board.

There is  a sample list  on the website  but depends on the cruise what is offered

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/culinary

If you are booked check online in MY ACCOUNT   & it may list the classes for your cruise

 

[thehungryhobbit]

2 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

There is  a sample list  on the website  but depends on the cruise what is offered

https://www.oceaniacruises.com/culinary

If you are booked check online in MY ACCOUNT   & it may list the classes for your cruise

 

The cruise I'm eyeing is in 2024 and I haven't booked yet. I'm still weighing if we want this, we sailed Nautica last time and my husband complained that there weren't enough fun things to do on the ship that actually interested us. Trying to prove that cranky man wrong 😉 

Thanks for the link for a sneak peak!

[pinotlover]

We’re cruising on the Marina starting the end of Feb 2023. Most all of the culinary classes are focused on SA food since that’s where we’ll be. But not all.

 

Most of the offered classes sold out by mid August. Slim pickings now. Final payment is due next week. We’ll see if anything opens up after that.. My wife has already booked a couple of them, the others she wanted was sold out.